news from 185 bath street Summer 2014 No 40 THE ART CLUB NEWSLETTER President’s Column Marking time Gallery Matters wenty one years ago, in 1993, our Gallery was one hundred years old. To in the Gallery Tmark the occasion the Club organised a wonderful art exhibition that spanned those one hundred years. I attended the black tie dinner on the opening night and I still have the limited edition catalogue, signed by the other diners at my table. As an exhibition it was a cracker. Covering the years 1893 to 1993 it included paintings by Sir James Guthrie, George Henry, Leslie Hunter, William Crosbie, and Hugh Adam Crawford as well as contemporary artist members of that time like David Donaldson, John Cunningham and Alexander Goudie. For the sake of brevity my list omits many other wonderful artists. Now twenty one years later we are looking forward to the opening of our newly refurbished gallery. The opening exhibition in November will again feature works by members past and present. To ensure a fabulous exhibition a call has gone out for members to contribute a work from their own collection to this inaugural show. Once again let us enjoy the works of Donaldson, Goudie, Robertson and Hood to name but a few who are no longer with us. Before I close I would like to quote from the catalogue of the 1993 exhibition. In an interview with Roger Billcliffe, past President and celebrated Scottish artist John Cunningham reminisces about the club he loves. embers had a chance to review hanging area. The trustees are confident that He mentions many of the famous characters progress on the restoration project all will be in order for the opening dinner and personalities that he has had the pleasure Mwhen Glasgow’s civic leaders visited scheduled for November 22 (spaces remaining to have known, he comments on how the the Club in May. The door to the Gallery, are in single figures and are expected to go club has evolved over the time he has been a closed for over a year, was opened to allow soon, so book now, otherwise, keep an eye member, but it is of the lay members that he Lord Provost Sadie Docherty to place a time out for any cancellations). concludes his interview. capsule of 2014 mementos under the relaid I quote..... floor, while Celia Sinclair, the trustee who has Pictured above are Glasgow’s Lord Provost “The lay membership is still a vital part of overseen the day-to-day work, was on hand to Sadie Docherty, with Lord and Lady Macfarlane, the Club, enlightened, supportive in every explain just what had been done to carry out President Robert Kelsey, and chairman of the way, both in economic and moral terms. structural repairs to roof and fabric and fit the GAC Property Company, Paul Dowds, with the The liaison between the artist and lay building for a further century of service to the time capsule. Also present were Glasgow’s membership is still as effective today as it was arts in the city. second and third citizens, Lord Dean of when we moved into this building a hundred Work can now start on the redecoration Guild Raymond Williamson (immediate past years ago.” which will make the building one of Glasgow’s president of GAC) and Hamish C Brodie, I say “hear-hear” to that. major attractions, particularly when the fabled Deacon Convener. More pictures and details Mackintosh frieze is back in place above the of the time capsule contents on pages 4-5. 1 YOU’LL HAVE YOUR TOSHIE TEA AGAIN! THREE CHAIRS FOR IAIN

ust five weeks after the Black Friday close eye on progress and standards. when the Club was stunned by the Now she is combining her experience news of the GSA fire, diners were in property development with her love of t’s a year since the indefatigable Iain delighted to hear that a rescue the world-famous artist’s work through McGlashan organised the removal of Joperation was under way for another the formation of the Celia Sinclair furniture from the Gallery and set important part of Glasgow’s Mackintosh Charitable Trust. It aims to raise the about ensuring that members will be legacy. The Willow Tearooms, last survivor £400,000 estimated to preserve the fabric Isitting comfortably when the Club returns of Kate Cranston’s chain of elegant of the distinctive building in Sauchiehall to full activity in the autumn. eating places, had been threatened with St, at one time part of Daly’s, Glasgow’s First, the surviving Balmoral chairs, the closure: now a buyer has been found poshest department store. A further half brown leather ones whose backs were to assure its future – none other than million could be needed to conserve and broken by constant mishandling, have our own Celia Sinclair. (see page 4) restore the CRM features which have Celia was one of the first to join when the been lost or damaged over the years. been reinforced and re-studded by a local Club opened its doors to women in 1983 but Joining her on the board are accountant firm (The Chairman of Bearsden) ready allowed her membership to lapse. When she Efric McNeil, former treasurer and now for their return to the Gallery. was persuaded to rejoin round the turn of lay vice-president of the Club, art dealer Then a set of 48 new Chippendale-style the century, she found the atmosphere much and Mackintosh expert Roger Billcliffe, ladder-backs, including a proportion of more congenial, and soon took a special and former hotelier Mandy Ford who has armed carvers, has been bought for the interest in the plans for redevelopment. Now valuable experience of the tourist industry. dining room and these are now being one of the Trustees of the GAC Property Like any astute businesswoman, Celia upholstered in Bolton. Finally a discreet Company, she has taken an active part in is not yet prepared to discuss the detail of charcoal fabric has been chosen for the planning improvements and making sure how the tearooms will be developed but new silver-framed stacking chairs which they are carried though efficiently: for over a we can rest assured that the CRM heritage are brought out for banquets and lectures. year she has clocked in almost every morning will be closely guarded, and that the city, before the doors are open and spent much including the Club, will benefit from her Meanwhile the dining tables have been of the day behind the scenes, keeping a guardianship of an important asset. restained and repolished with hard sur- left undone. But at least the basics are in faces, and work is underway to restore place, and the Club’s seating is unlikely to the distinctive tables in the Gallery. upset the Health and Safety watchdogs.” Though the kidney-shaped ashtrays no The spending will scarcely be offset by Everything in the garden’s lovely longer have a place indoors, the hollows the recycling of some of the discarded where they sat are being retained, along items, but members who would like a Iain takes a well deserved seat. with the tracks of cigarette burns from a special souvenir of the Club can still take lmost 30 members and their guests smokier past. away one of the elegant dining chairs the seat, but if you can find a free one in salvageable condition just let Dan know turned up at Greenbank House in “Of course we would have liked to do designed for the Club when it opened more” Iain points out. “Since fewer than a over 100 years ago – for a donation of at and attach your own label. The chair will Clarkston to share a civilised picnic A fifth of members responded to last year’s least £25. Around a dozen have already come with a certificate or label proving its in mid-June. Again this year the sun shone, appeal, some restoration work had to be been reserved by sticking a label under provenance. the setting was stunning, food and wine delicious and more than adequate. We chose to pitch our trestle tables and foldaway chairs in the secluded garden furthest from the house, but each corner Sally speaks out of the National Trust for property offered delightful arrangements of flowers and greenery, and other visitors seemed istinguished writer and happy to leave us in peace. presenter Sally Magnusson Dhad a confession to make when she opened the Club’s summer exhibition – she is the non-artist in her talented family. While her parents and siblings enjoyed painting and potting, she stuck to the more abstract arts. Her main interest was in music and she particularly appreciated how it could enrich the lives of patients and dementia sufferers. She stayed in the billiard room long enough, however, to admire the work on show and talk to a number of the artists involved. 2 3 Buried Treasure

Hazel Nagl RGI, RSW, PAI; Cranes on the Clyde

Michael Moulder; Revelin Fortress II 9/50 Dubrovnik Jim Bankier; Thaw in the Hills

Norman Kirkham RGI; Portrait of John Thompson ( Architect )

Pam Carter; Surf and Rocks Robert Kelsey DA, MUniv, PAI, FRSA; Boats at Aldeburgh

Philip Spence; Boat Study he time capsule, more like a small attaché case than the Above, left, The President Jim S Davis DA, PAI, RSW, FRSA; Spring Morning Hamish Montgomery; White strand of the Monks, Iona traditional cylinder, contains articles reflecting the Club’s lends a hand to Provost Sadie T Docherty as the Capsule is placed activities and interests in 2014: The contents include: underground; and above, Celia • Original works on A5 watercolour paper by artist members are shown here. Sinclair gives a guided tour of the • An album of photographs of Club council, trustees, staff, and ongoing building works Gallery and the progress to date – • Brief history of the Club and of present project, including frieze proposals. • Conservation plan especially the finished roof (inset) • Menus and bar price list • Copies of The Herald with report of fire in • Exhibition catalogues and Art Mag for spring months. Ken Howard OBE, RA; Drawing of a soldier • Leaflets for activities in the Club and city (circa 1979 signed 2013) Irene Blair; Become a ...... Dougald Cameron; First Aircraft to fly to Prestwick Area museums. 1913 It is planned to open the capsule in 2043 when the Club will celebrate 150 years in the present building. Meanwhile, a full list of the contents has been lodged with the Club’s archivist and is displayed in the entrance hallway.

Shona Barr; Towards Jura from Loch na Cille Joe Hargan DA, PAI, PPAI; Elle Irene Blair; Landmass of our time Alma Wolfson; The “Kings” Iain A McIntosh; Farmyard, Portencross 4 5 Wall to Wall George Devlin RSW, RGI., RBA, ROI, ARWS, FRSA 8/9/37 to 26/5/14 x-president Charles Anderson, whose concrete sculptures decorated many Epublic buildings and cityscapes in the eorge died on Monday May I was fortunate to have George late 60s and 70s, has seen a number reduced 26... and a bright shining as my friend and we went on to rubble as changes in civic services and star of the art world was many art trips up and down the tastes rendered the buildings obsolete for the G gone – but not forgotten. Our West coast of Scotland. He was 21st century. Increasing recognition of their thoughts and sympathies are with a powerhouse of energy, the artistic value has led to a demand to preserve his loving wife Marie and their consummate professional. He some of the landmark items which have daughter Nuala whom he adored: survived redevelopment and new techniques never set out to paint ‘pictures’ – are being developed. they were the core and anchor of his passion was to create art and When the Provost’s Pool in Stirling was his fantastic life. he did and how he did. scheduled for demolition, there were George was an artist of deserved He was a real character, there protests from a number of conservation international acclaim and already was never a dull moment in bodies including the 20C society and Historic recognised as such in many George’s company. He lived his Scotland. The Royal Commission for Ancient Charles receiving his Honorary Fellowship publications: among the very best life to the absolute limit and he and Historic Monuments had already shown from Iain Connelly RIAS President he will take his place in history. loved every minute of it. its appreciation of the sculpture panel, He loved the Glasgow Art A great man, and a great artist: a local firm, Ogilvie Construction, found measuring 11m x 3.7 metres, by having it Club and was always the first we were lucky to have known digitally scanned to preserve the image for a way of dividing the panel and lifting off to volunteer in any project that the five sections to transfer them to its own him, and the Art Club is left with posterity. Bodies such as the New Glasgow The big lift for Charles’ sculpture promised to increase its artistic Society pressed to preserve the sculpture headquarters building in Stirling where they a vacuum never to be filled. itself. can now be seen. Incorporation of Architects in Scotland. reputation. During his presidency He was my friend and I will miss As the sculpture was part of the Charles’ contribution to public art has he was delighted to accept an honorary he set up a European tour of the him. condemned building it was thought impossible now been recognised by his peers in other fellowship of the leading professional body. best of our artist members’ work Jim Davis to separate it from the wall beneath. However disciplines. At the June dinner of the Royal Congratulations, Charles, Hon FRIAS. – a mammoth task –­­ to France, Germany and the Netherlands. He always strived to put the Club to the Club, putting our house in order. During We regret to record the deaths of the forefront of the art world and brought that time I admired George’s respect for following members and send condo- What’s in the Jargon ? many famous artists and their work to the other artists’ work – he always had regard lences to their family and friends. Club. George always aimed high. for sincerity and skill. It is a pity we Gerald Belton, Glasgow business- Recently George headed a small team of never seemed to get round to acquiring man: 12/5/31 to 8/11/13. amiliarity with jargon often means that more than a townscape of the same size, with Peter Graham and myself and we took on a George Devlin for our collection, an Robert Wildman, London mem- the origins of some terms and their lots of traffic, street signs, people and a very the eighteen month task of cataloguing accolade he would have appreciated and ber: 28/1/43 to 26/6/14. Fmeaning can be lost. This, perhaps, is cloudy sky. Lots of changes in contrast, pattern and putting on disc the art collection of the certainly deserved. the case with the acronym JPEG – the most and texture means much less pixel data can be popular form of photographic digital file. combined. So what does JPEG mean? The acronym Mobile phones, iPads and most budget cam- stands for Joint Photographic Expert Group eras don’t give any choice and shoot JPEGs. and dates to the emergent desktop publish- Better cameras give options of low and high ing of the late 80s when attempts were being quality JPEGs as well as top quality TIFF and New members since Autumn 2013 made to computerise photographs for com- RAW file formats. For designers and print pro- mercial printing. fessionals the TIFF format is the option that Mr Jonathan Barr, Glasgow Young Lay Ms Kirsty Mitchell, Glasgow Corporate Lay The aim of the Joint Photographic Expert gives the best quality reproduction and is the Mr Harry Bell, Pathhead Corporate Lay Miss Lisa McGregor, Glasgow Associate Lay Group, was to devise international standards One sculptor and five D&P GSA alumni dining natural choice, allowing proper sizing and for digital images at a time when scanned pho- at the Art Club – taken by iPhone in JPEG and high resolution, suitable for printing. Mrs Shelagh Campbell, Kilmacolm Town Artist Mr Ian McIntosh, Glasgow Town Artist tographs seemed impossibly large for comput- converted to TIFF for print reproduction. This For use in websites, blogs, Facebook and Mr Iain Connell, Glasgow Young Artist Mr Donald Mackinnon, Glasgow Town Lay ers that were a fraction of the power of one of could enlarge to go across two columns here, other social media, JPEGs need to be reduced Mr Edmund Crick, Glasgow Corporate Lay Mr Rory McPherson, Glasgow Town Lay but would lose sharpness if enlarged further. today’s mobile phones. in physical size, resolution and file size and in Mr Robert Ferguson, Paisley Town Lay Mrs Barbara Mulhern, Dumbarton Associate Lay Because of its ubiquitous use “JPEG” has be- some cases changed to another format, specif- Mr Bruce Finnie, Glasgow Town Lay Dr John Vincent Oates, Glasgow Corporate Lay come common currency to describe a digital ic to its end use. Mr Duar Fleming, Glasgow Corporate Lay Dr Colin Pegrum, Glasgow Associate Lay photo, but JPEG really means COMPRESSION Once compressed, images cannot be re- of images’ digital data. That does not mean stored to a larger more detailed condition, so Prof George Fleming, Glasgow Corporate Lay Mr Robert Pryor, Venezuela Country Lay that using the JPEG label is wrong. It’s just always keep a copy of the best original. Mr John Gilbert Crowbridge Country Lay Mr William Robertson, Sanquhar Country Lay that there are others more suited for print re- JPEG shots are compressed by the camera’s Mr Philip Goodman, Glasgow Young Artist Mr Sandy Rowan, Glasgow Corporate Lay production. internal software, but any amount of amend- Mr David Hume, Peebles Country Lay Mr Jamie Slater, Glasgow Young Lay Digital photographs are composed of pixels, ments can be made by transferring images to Mr John Hylands, Falkirk Corporate Lay Mr Phil Spry, Aberdeen Country Lay and compression works by detecting similar a computer and using software such as Photo- and adjacent colour values of pixels and com- shop, in which JPEG compression, and other Mr Frank Irvine, Glasgow Town Lay Mr David Strachan, Aberdeen Corporate Lay bining them to reduce the file size. For exam- criteria, can be altered. Photoshop can also Mr Ewan Kennedy, Oban Retired Lay Mr Gokul Swamy, London Country Lay ple, a photo of a landscape with a cloudless The same shot reduced to low quality JPEG, amend and convert TIFF and RAW files into Mr Robin Leishman, Houston Town Artist Ms Sarah Walker, Glasgow Associate Lay blue sky, large green fields with few trees and suitable for web site and other online reproduc- JPEG, and vice versa – taking care always to Mr William Liggat, Glasgow Retired Lay Ms Alma Wolfson, Glasgow Town Artist little detail, would be reduced many times tion, but obviously unsuitable for printing. keep the largest and best original shot. Ms Sheila Miller, Saltcoats Corporate Lay Ms Joanne Zanetton, London Country Artist 6 7 DIARY Plans for the coming months DATES The Events Committee has been working hard to come up with an exciting schedule of events for the coming months. The build up for the Grand Gallery reopening will begin in earnest in the autumn and there are many events planned beyond November and into next year.

September February Spring 2015 17 Combined Referendum Special 6 Burns Supper Mackintosh Festival Film and Supper Club with themed 7 Six Nations Rugby – France v “Two Weeks of Toshie” food and drink available. Scotland To celebrate the Gallery opening including the magnificient Mackintosh 11 Valentines Film and Supper Club frieze, the entire club will be given October 20 Inter-Club Murder Mystery dinner 31 Friday Fright Night, combining the over to Mackintosh for two weeks. (young member event) Proposed events include exhibitions Film Club with some Ghoulish Grub – of current members’ work, a film to be confirmed. March schools exhibition and an exhibition 14 Six Nations – England v Scotland of photography of Mackintosh November 21 Six Nations – Scotland v Ireland architecture from around Glasgow and 5 Inverarity wine tasting with Smiley further afield. There will be lunchtime Pete. April talks, corporate evenings and a 22 Grand Gallery Opening Dinner. 8 Film Club Mackintosh one-man-play performed Still a few places available. Names in 17 Champagne and wine tasting in the Gallery. book please! Please note that all details are subject to confirmtion. Please check the book and online for 29 Afternoon Tea Reception in the further details nearer the time. newly opened Gallery for all members and friends. December 13 Christmas Party with Arthur Short Big Band – £25 including a two course buffet and drinks reception. Bring your dancing shoes! 17 Christmas Film Club January 2015 Celtic Connections

Burns Supper – a family affair

hespian Maureen Beattie had the last word at the annual TBurns Supper when she replied to the Toast to the Lassies given by her father, actor/entertainer Johnny Beattie. Reflected in the mirror are poet Rab Wilson, who proposed a thought-provoking toast to the Immortal Memory, and his wife Margaret who provided the sweet singing for the evening. Guests were again summoned to their seats by piper James Beaton. The closure of the Gallery meant that numbers had to be restricted, but over 50 members were fitted in around tables in the dining room and bar area, giving the traditional celebration a new intimacy and informality which was generally welcomed. The Glasgow Art Club, 185 Bath Street, Glasgow, G2 4HU Tel: 0141 248 5210 – Web:www.glasgowartclub.co.uk – Email:[email protected] Glasgow Art Club is a Charity registered in Scotland, No. SC039231 – Printed by Core Image Ltd., East Kilbride 8